AWADmail Issue 701

A Weekly Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Tidbits about Words and Language
and Other Tidbits about Words and Language

Sponsor’s Message:
Are you looking for a wicked smart way to one up your know-it-all in-laws and annoy the entire family this Christmas? Email of the Week winner, Robin Sutherland (see below), as well as wordlovers near and far will love/hate playing our machiavellian game. Cutthroat 2 for $25 special, through midnight tonight. Guaranteed to ruin the holidays for everyone.

In my current studies, a book of magic is referred to as a “grimoire”
which also comes from the French “gramaire”. Although, I can see why
someone who uses proper grammar would be considered to have magical powers.

For me, the entire gamut of the visual arts has that aspect of gramarye,
or magic... creating something of aesthetic import from a blank canvas,
or a mere chunk of inert stone thru the mysterious alchemy and amalgam of
artistic skill and free-flowing imagination. Essentially creating something
out of nothing.

Illustrator Preiss has magically conjured up this delightful, wonder-filled
arabesque image of the ancient sorcerer seemingly contemplating his sacred
text and curious symbols, as we viewers are willingly drawn into his world
of total make-believe and mystery.

The quacksalver post sent us to the living room to examine the 1885 print
we inherited. It is a 1700s village scene with a crowd gathered around a
man promoting a small vial of elixir. Now we have a title for him!

Cynthia Becker, Denver, Colorado

From: Andrew Pressburger (andpress sympatico.ca)
Subject: Quacksalver

A noted archetype of the quacksalver, or in this case quick seller, is the
notorious mountebank Dr. Dulcamara in Donizetti’s comic opera L’elisir d’amore
(The Elixir of Love). While the wealthy Adina actually does love the poor Nemorino,
she is too proud to admit it. Had John Adams written this opera, he might
have named the quack Doctor Wikipedia. In Donizetti’s original version,
Dulcamara introduces himself as Dr. Encyclopaedia, who offers a potion
named after the tragic lover “Isolda”. In the end all turns out for the
best, the elusive quack pocketing his ill gotten gains, while Nemorino
gets the hand (and the land) of Adina.

In keeping with the romantic tradition of the nineteenth century, perhaps
the actual potion that did the trick was the furtive teardrop Adina shed
and her lover noticed, as he claims in the eponymous aria: Una furtiva
lagrima; a true show piece if there ever was one.

In my youth, there always seemed to be more than enough time
to recline and view at my leisure the various diplomas of my
dentist. (Most of them were in Latin, a practice that I wish were more
widespread.) He had been schooled in New York City -- Civitas Novæ Eboraci
-- but his Bachelor’s
Degree from the University of Vermont fascinated me most -- Universitatis Viridis Montis. Only later did I make the
connection between Vermont and The Green Mountain State.

Yobbery is a popular word in common usage in the UK and some
people take pride in their yobbishness, which always reminds me of the
great Tony Husband cartoon that runs in Private Eye called simply
Yobs!

Alexander Nix, Cambridge, UK

From: Ananya Garg (ananya.garg gmail.com)
Subject: xenophile

My favorite character from the Harry Potter series is probably Luna Lovegood
(although Hermione Granger is a close second). Luna’s quirky character and
style, but also her compassion and kind-heartedness always made me happy
whenever she appeared in the books.

Today’s word reminds me of her father, Xenophilius Lovegood.
A xenophile is
someone who likes strange people or strange things, and that is Xenophilius
in a nutshell. He is the creator of the Quibbler, a magazine in which
he writes about his eccentric beliefs and ideas about the magical world,
for example, the existence of Nargles, or that the minister of magic was
secretly a vampire. He was a strange character to say the least, but also
an important one. He valued freedom of speech and supported Harry with
his writing when no one else would.

Ananya Garg, Seattle, Washington

From: David Gravitz (davgrav gmail.com)
Subject: xenophile

Unfortunately, I seem to come across this word’s antonym, xenophobia
(fear or hatred of the foreign/different/stranger) much more often these
days. What does this say about our society?